the press. That night he would give the speech ahnost word for word with- out the assistance of either notes or Inanuscript. He could do this even when the subject was of the Inost tech- nical nature. One ll10rning the Secretary was to Ineet a group of departInent officials on an international matter of the first Ïtn- portance. Just before the meeting two ad visers handed hiln a typewritten state- Inent which they had drafted. It was about two pages in length and it repre- sented, they said, the consensus of opin- ion of all the experts. They express- ed a hope that he would read it to the gatherIng exactly as written. Mr. Hughes took the paper, glanced through it, and laid it aside. Rebuffed and a little apprehensive, the advisers went to the meeting and listened while the Secretary spoke without referring to the typewrit- ten sheets. They had sI1!uggled a sten- ographer into the room and they subse- quently found that he had uttered their prepared statelnen t almost exactly. In brief, Mr. Hughes has a photo- ......,;.A.. i-' . iol..': ... "''fø.'" , .." .;.. ç; --..'..;':;..-;.; 19 tions almost certain to be asked by the Secretary of State, and this Inight em- barrass his governlnent. The request \vas g,-ranted. '- T I-IESE Inental gifts, as well as the shyness and aloofness which once marked him, are not surprising in a man who was a boy prodigy. They are doubtless responsible for the unpopu- larity from which Hughes suffered for so long. He was brighter, from the start, than those with whom he asso- ciated. That he knew it himself is indicated by an incident of his public- school years. The boy grew bored V\7ith the repetitious droning of his teachers; they went over subjects again and again so that the relative dullards in the school might understand theln. Consequently he evolved what he called the "Charles Evans Hughes Plan of Study," better geared to his talents. This consisted of a curricul Uln to which new and more ambitious subjects were added. No time was provided for re- view of lessons already covered. The boy formally presented the "Charles Evans Hughes Plan of Study" to his father but, needless to say, it was not adopted. Charles Evans Hughes V\ 7 as born at GleI1S Falls, New York, on April 11 th, 1862. His father was the Reverend David C. Hughes, a Baptist preacher, who Inoved to Newark, New Jersey, soon after the boy was born. His parents seem to have been very wise in con- trolling the rather extraordi- nary youth; he careened- through the Newark public schools at such a pace that he had finished the high- school course when he was eleven. Instead of allowing him to enter some college, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes per- suaded Charles to remain at hOlne until he reached the advanced age of fourteen. They encouraged him to ex- ercise in the open, to live as a more norlnal boy should, to enrich his mind by read- ing widely. In 1876 he was perlnitted to matriculate at Colgate University, and he stayed there for two years. At sixteen, in 1878, he trans- ferred to Brown University, and graduated with an A.B. in 18 81. For two years after graphic mind. He reads a book two or three tÍ1nes as rapidly as an or- dinary individual and can digest several hundred pages in an hour. Naturally, he prefers to have Inatters presented to hiln in written form rather than orally. In the State DepartInent an assistant would, when possible, in- terview callers and place an abstract of the conversation in front of Mr. Hughes. If the Secretary was work- ing on some other matter, which was probable, he would glance at the mem- oranduln, give a decision, and then re- sume his work. It was all sOinewhat appalling, and it frightened SOine of the younger melnbers of the Diplolnatic Corps. One chargé d'affaires had an appointlnent to deliver a message froln his government and became panic- stricken just before it was time for hÏtn to call on Secretary Hughes. He tele- phoned a friend in the State Depart- ment and asked, unofficially, whether he might be permitted to see some as- sistan t instead. Never, he pleaded, would he be able to answer the ques--:- @) . . .-' ,.- . ---..--.. -{" - '.. ," . .. - . -,-.:;.-,:,: :"-<" ;&:'- . . - .-. . ._..'. ,... ,,,,,*<,. if '" '>-, ..' ' ", ) ' -. , : , t.. .. . ;-:..', .,. '..'.',. (xt: ',' \ 'Ii .' -:. : ,t :;'>' ",,;,:,. :. ' :-< t .;<" '. t :/ , ,. "..,--.,"",.-..,. ', ''J. . " 4 ;v \,.', ^ ";:', ' ' ',', { i '.. <",,:, ,'" ,,' '.... ' . i:"JY ';" I'>' !; ;>::':" .' J' ';: ; tJ; / ]t' ; ,:> ,J '."- w ;r" ". 4 :Mfr < ;: .' ; fl' ,(:: ,:""", \ " ,.;it:;' _ :, ' :''''''.'-- " <" . -: . , , ,, .. ;. . ;::,;;:_.. . .':::{ ; . : . : . :,J /T<; ' , , :' , s , ' , ' : , :_ _ _ ' -" " :' - : ' .'. .\i?t , . . . ,. , ' . ._ ' : . _ : . . , : , ' , . . : , ' . : , ' , :\ , # , : . ' , : . . _ - _ ' , ' . . _ ! _ ; , : . . . : :. . ' . ' " ,1 ,__._ ,,,. ;-; ; ..... 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